cheat night always seems to turn into awful weekend

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  • BohemianCoast
    BohemianCoast Posts: 349 Member
    I don't really do cheat days. What I do do, though, is eat all the unhealthy foods I really like. And often I have exactly *half* of them. So last night hubby and I shared a pizza, tonight we'll share a burrito. That sort of thing. If I ate a whole burrito I'd stuff my day for sure, but half a burrito tastes *just as good* as a whole burrito, and fits into my targets pretty well.
  • nomorepizza2
    nomorepizza2 Posts: 85 Member
    I got some great advice on this forum that really helped me re: cheat days.
    Don't plan them. If you plan a cheat day then you'll have time to gather supplies and fantasize about all the goodies you'll plough through. Plan to keep on your diet and stick to it as best you can. If you do happen to fall off the wagon (and everyone on this site has!), don't punish yourself emotionally, that will make things worse. Use the binge as motivation to work harder in the following days.

    One other thing I've learned that's really helped me is the wonderful world of egg whites! I boil up a bunch of eggs, discard the yolks and snack on the whites during the day. Great low-cal hunger killer for us salad-dodgers!
  • runfreddyrun
    runfreddyrun Posts: 137 Member
    when i first started trying to lose weight a few years ago i gave myself one cheat day every week - because that is what body for life said to do. but i found i was essentially obsessed with food all week because i would think about all the things i wanted to have on saturday. and then when saturday came, i'd try to cram as much crap in, just *because i could*. i don't think this is the real intention of a cheat day and i think it only hurts your efforts. at the end of the day it's calories out vs calories in. i think it's fine to spike your calories once a week or so, but you're probably only hurting yourself if spike more than 500 calories over your normal amount.

    now, i basically just have what i want (within reason) but i make it fit in my calories. i don't have a cheat day perse, but if something comes up like a dinner with friends or something, i will eat over my calories. however, i do try to compensate in some way either by working out a little extra or by holding back 100 calories for a few days beforehand or after.

    i've found that i don't need a weekly cheat day, and i don't miss it. i have those bingey, go over your calories by a lot days, but they are more like every week or two (sometimes even more infrequent) instead of every saturday.

    last night i really wanted a cookie. you know - those huge, awesome chocolate chip cookies you get at the bakery? instead i had some 3-2-1 cake which, although not as amazing as a cookie, satisfied the craving.

    i agree with not planning your cheat days. take them as you need them and try to plan accordingly.
  • albertwisdom35
    albertwisdom35 Posts: 5
    I have started recording them... It definitely help me take a little easier.
  • alexisdc
    alexisdc Posts: 117 Member
    I read an article with Jillian Michaels about if your starting out with this weight loss thing to try to do 80/20 = 80% of your calories are good healthy food and 20% is the things you crave and make sure your moving moving moving :) DavPul mention incorporating some of those things in with your daily food. This can help, BUT be real with yourself (I have fallen in this trap myself) controlling the portions. I figured out that based on this 80/20 I can have 427 calories of something I enjoy, crave etc. Depending on what it is this may not be as much as I really want to eat (lol). But I have this mantra I say to my self "is this gonna taste any different if I eat a the smaller portion or the larger portion? " my answer is always no. I am just trying to satisfy my palate and eating the smaller portion is going to do that. Its rough, it will take time to become a mindful habit of keeping those food low :)
  • alicecee92
    alicecee92 Posts: 16
    My suggestions would be to either:

    a) Cut out "cheat days" entirely. No cheat meals, all healthy all the time.
    b) Have a cheat snack / meal every day and slowly cut back. Seems to me like you're missing your usual diet so when you get a chance to go back to it you're going nuts!

    Keep at it lovely, you can do it! :bigsmile:
  • endoftheside
    endoftheside Posts: 568 Member
    I have learned enough about myself to know that cheat meals/days in the way some people use them will not work for me. In the past, it has turned into cheat months and resulted in regaining everything I had lost. No, just no, to that.

    What I do now is incorporate things into my daily menu. For 150-250 calories, I can get a taste of whatever, and I can fit that in my day, any day I want. Weekends are sometimes rough from a social eating perspective, so I push for higher activity so that I can up my flexibility (today, it's pizza, and mowing the lawn).

    So many ways to cheat (or not), I know you will figure out something that works for your short and long term goals. :flowerforyou:
  • sharonlvinson
    sharonlvinson Posts: 4 Member
    Thank you so much. I have a problem with fast food myself. I know my eating is connected to emotions. It's not like I really want the chocolate or the McDonald's its like something to make me feel better, but it makes me feel worse in the end. I like what u said about giving up soda. I'm going to challenge myself to not have any soda. I've tricked myself into thinking its ok as long as its coke zero. Thanks I needed to read that
  • Minnesnowtagurl
    Minnesnowtagurl Posts: 406 Member
    How about rather than having "Cheat days," you substitute what it is that you are craving? Here are a few of mine....

    A Big jucy cheese burger = Turkey burger/Sara Lee's 45 Cal bread/slice of provolone/ handful of sweet potato fries

    A big ice cream sandwhich = Whipped Cream (or frozen yogurt) between Graham crackers frozen

    Buttery popcorn = Boom Chicka Pop Popcorn at 35 cals per serving

    Potato Chips = Pop Ins (air popped)

    Brownies = No Pudge Brownies (made with plain greek yogurt)

    Spaghetti and meat balls = Spghetti Squash and Turkey Meat balls

    Shrimp Fried Rice = Chopped Jicama with chicken, peas and carrots

    Backed Apple Pie = Granny Smith apple with cinnamon in the microwave sprinkled with crush graham cracker

    They won't be the best answers all the time but it sure beats setting yourself up to have a full day of unhealthiness in the long run
  • fourfiftythree
    fourfiftythree Posts: 203 Member
    I allow myself a "treat" every week, which before I dieted would commonly be ice cream or a slice of pie. Lately I've just been getting a fruit smoothie from Orange Julius and hubby gets ice cream. Well last night I decided that I've been busting my butt all week and deserve that slice of pie. Got my favorite - peanut butter cream. Took a couple bites and... I was disappointed. It just wasn't good. It tasted like I eating spoonfuls of sugar, it was sooo overly rich and sweet. I couldn't even finish it. It's amazing how your tastes change once you don't have that sugary junk for awhile.
  • Lish1234
    Lish1234 Posts: 39 Member
    I keep myself going sometimes by telling myself to wait for my cheat meal, seems to backfire into a near binge weekend, I usually gain back half of what I've lost through the week by the end of it. I'd be down 50 or 60 by now if it wasn't for this. Does anyone else have problems with this? If so, how do you combat it?

    Yes sadly I have had the same problem. Its not until I have cut chocolate and biscuits out completely that I have noticed I have stopped craving them. Even if I eat them in moderation it leads to really bad cravings to binge on them. I honestly think I have to do all or nothing unfortunately. It's sad but I think it's true in my case. Moderation is not my friend. Hopefully in the future I might be able to just do the having a little bit of what I fancy thing but for now I have to stay away from foods that make me binge as it's hindered my fat loss a lot I think.

    I'm finding it too! I did one proper week of cutting out all the silly stuff and lost a nice amount of weight and then in the second week I started having treats in moderation and that's turned into a weekend binge out. WHY? I have such a feeling I've put it all back on. I agree, I've heard (and also read on this forum) that if you cut out processed foods for at least 28 days you won't crave them anymore. I need to proceed with that!
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    cheat night always seems to turn into awful weekend
    I keep myself going sometimes by telling myself to wait for my cheat meal, seems to backfire into a near binge weekend, I usually gain back half of what I've lost through the week by the end of it. I'd be down 50 or 60 by now if it wasn't for this. Does anyone else have problems with this? If so, how do you combat it?


    I would try to keep it away from the weekend then. Also, I might try being a little more lenient with what you allow yourself daily and then maybe you wouldn't need a cheat meal, if you could have whatever you're craving, a little of it that fits your cal goals, when and where you are craving it. That might work. The weekdays might be an easier time to allow yourself a cheat meal if you eat at all like me. Kind of a creature of habit during the week. So that way you're next meal is something pre planned and less likely to be derailed from the cheat meal prior.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    Don't cheat. Simple. You are only cheating yourself & you have managed to prove it. Simply eat what you want but not all in one go on one day. MODERATION.

    I never understand why people have 'cheat days' when all they are doing is cheating themselves.....not anyone else.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,407 Member
    Maybe change your cheat meal to a weekday if you find that easier to stay on track. I find a lot of individuals do well monday-friday but once the weekend comes around, things change.
  • JJordon
    JJordon Posts: 857 Member
    Perhaps a cheat MEAL not a day or night, might work better? OR for now, stop the cheating until you can get a handle on it.
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
    Yea until I stopped cheating.

    When I first started I ate strictly bro then had a cheat day. After awhile results stalled and I switched to a cheat meal. I always struggled because I could easily eat 5k cals in a meal. For example here are some of my past epic cheat meals:

    -1 whole large pepperoni pizza, 6 wings, 8 bread-sticks, a 2 liter of soda.
    -2 1/2 racks of ribs, 1/2 lb double bacon cheeseburger, fries
    -A whole Lasagna made by Stouffers
    -A whole package of wings you buy raw from the store for a whole family
    -4 chocolate chip pancakes, 8 wings, 4 eggs, 4 sausage, home potatoes, a slice of cake (Denny's)
    -Whole box of donuts
    -2 plates of grits, 6 eggs, 5 pancakes (home made) few cups of juice
    -A full plate of Chinese, A full plate of Mexican food, a full plate of pork chops and potatoes (this was at a buffet)
    -3 street dogs, fries, followed by ice cream
    -A whole 1lb burito followed by a Chick-Fil-A Large meal

    Some of my more memorable huge meals.

    I was always insanely skinny as a kid and had a huge appetite. I couldn't gain weight no matter how hard I tried because of my metab, and the fact that I played basketball almost everyday. When I started weight training it was really hard for me to put on weight so I dedicated myself to eating even more so I developed the ability to consume very large portions of food.

    When i dieted I struggled with eating clean for so long and cheating. I'd do good all weak and then crash on cheat day. I made them less often but still crashed. I started to realize that any day I told my mind "f it eat whatever" I'd crash. I stopped having dedicated cheat days since.

    I personally do better eating whatever I want in moderation on a daily basis. I really don't have cravings to go out and eat something insanely high in cals anymore. If I am out and really want a burger I'll get it,but will pay attention to the macros in it. I won't just eat whatever, I eat almost whatever I want but not as much pretty much. There are a few things I try not to eat very often though just because of the fact that they have poor macros.

    For me it was all about developing a better relationship with food. I no longer see food as an enemy, or something to be overly enjoyed. I still love food but I don't live to eat anymore. Even recently I just had a birthday and normally would pig out like crazy. All I did was go to Olive Garden this time and have on plate, and two bowls of soup. The urge to binge just really isn't there anymore.

    Personally I like dieting this way much better than being on a strict week and having a splurge day.

    Here's a good vid on the topic also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7P5fE-ZBn0&list=PLuhX7seusMvLJpEG_wE5nsIJQVi4YUCSD&index=6
  • latepaul
    latepaul Posts: 49 Member
    This used to be a big problem for me under my old diet. I'd have a cheat day on a Friday that turned into a weekend binge. Early on I could still lose weight but soon I'd find I'd be wasting all my good work during the week.

    It seems to help doing 5:2 because I can have little treats most days. Fridays can still be an issue because they bring in a free breakfast at work and it's things like muffins and pastries. It's less likely to spread into the whole weekend now though.

    Another thing I've done is virtually give up alcohol. That's a whole other topic but aside from the calories it decreases my self-control.
  • cheexy85
    cheexy85 Posts: 119
    I have been cheating (i.e going over my calories) for the past 3 or 4 days. I feel really heavy.
  • Eleanorjanethinner
    Eleanorjanethinner Posts: 563 Member
    Don't cheat! What's with this 'starve then binge' thing?

    Don't restrict everything you love during the week - as mentioned above, replace things with other similar things or smaller portions.

    Make sure you eat heaps of lean protein and drink lots of water. Learn what are filling, low calorie foods (I swear by porridge/oatmeal for breakfast) so you're not feeling hungry.

    Eat nice food within your calorie goals! Last night my husband and I had indian takeaway for dinner - half a portion of main, some veges, rice and no naan bread or greasy starters. Still a treat!
  • JDBLY11
    JDBLY11 Posts: 577 Member
    I keep myself going sometimes by telling myself to wait for my cheat meal, seems to backfire into a near binge weekend, I usually gain back half of what I've lost through the week by the end of it. I'd be down 50 or 60 by now if it wasn't for this. Does anyone else have problems with this? If so, how do you combat it?

    I have this problem so I try to keep at about the same calories every day. Letting myself overeat seems to lead to more of it so I try not to let myself ever eat whatever I want.
  • drobbins34
    drobbins34 Posts: 2
    Albert, I have the same problem! I've been yo-yoing for two years now and am still trying to find a solution! I'm trying to go back to being vegetarian because I know it's healthier. Maybe on cheat day it should be a snack instead of a meal? My weakness is ice cream, yours?
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I keep myself going sometimes by telling myself to wait for my cheat meal, seems to backfire into a near binge weekend, I usually gain back half of what I've lost through the week by the end of it. I'd be down 50 or 60 by now if it wasn't for this. Does anyone else have problems with this? If so, how do you combat it?

    That's why I don't do cheat meals. I just have a little bit of what I want during the week when I have some calories left (which is most days, but I don't starve myself at 1200 calories either).

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